Sherlocked

During series one of Sherlock, we published a Sherlock Special blogpost to highlight the fact that we have a painting by JMW Turner (1775 - 1851) of the Reichenbach Falls in the collection at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. The Reichenbach Falls also happens to be the scene of the famous meeting between Sherlock and his archenemy Moriarty.

The scene was first published in a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Final Problem published in 1893. This was intended to be the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories however, pressure from fans brought Sherlock back, firslty in the prequel The Hound of the Baskervilles and then returning Holmes for good in The Adventure of the Empty House published in 1903.

Sherlock fans cannot fail to have noticed that the upcoming episode is titled 'The Reichenbach Fall'. You can see a preview here. We can't wait to find out how Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat will deal with the Reichenbach Falls story line. But more then that, we are very excited to know that the aforementioned Turner painting is likely to feature in the episode. We're not yet sure for how long, where, when, or even if it will certainly feature but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled! We hope you will be too.

JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. (1775-1851)

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach, 1804

Accesion No.: P.98
watercolour on paper, 102.2 ´ 68.9 cm
inscribed: J M W Turner R A 1804

Entry from the Watercolour Catalogue:

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach was first shown at Turner’s own gallery held on the first floor of what was 64 Harley Street. Turner had conceived the idea of his own gallery due to uncertainty over the future of the Royal Academy in late 1803, with rumours abounding that Turner would not be showing at the the R.A. in 1804. Sir George Beaumont (who saw the Turner exhibition) complained of 'the strong skies and parts not corresponding with them'.

The Great Falls is a superb watercolour, made soon after Turner’s first visit to Switzerland in 1802, and is based on a sketch (Wilton no.361) now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The view is taken from the valley of Hasli above Meiringen with Great Scheidegg beyond and shows Turner tackling a 'Sublime' subject with enormous confidence. Turner’s pride in the work is shown by the fact that it was again exhibited at the R.A. in 1815.

EJ/JM

Aiming for Arts Award

Do You Fancy Medieval Manga? Think it can get you a qualification? Well, that’s what we’re aiming for! A group of young people are aiming to achieve their Bronze Arts Award by getting creative with Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum.

As part of a pilot scheme in partnership with Beauchamp Middle School and Albion Archaeology two groups of young people are developing their individual artistic skills in the arts to explore history. The Saturday Archaeology Workshop candidates visited the London Archaeological Archives and Research Centre and the Museum of London and according to Aidan’s review, it was “an amazing day.” Chris Dobson introduced them to the smelly arts of dyeing and weaving wool, just as the Saxons would have done.

Arts Award is about enjoying the arts and helping others to do so. After a workshop with local Comic Book artist Lee Smart, members of Medieval Manga group were challenged to recreate the Siege of Bedford Castle during the Museum & Gallery’s ‘Time Travel Big Draw’. Ben enjoyed painting scenes on the hoardings so much, that he came back another day to help other visitors to have a go.

Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum realises that lots of young people spend their free time creatively and we were keen to offer Arts Award qualifications to help support their aspirations and recognise their individual interests and achievements.

“Arts Award aspires to support any young person to enjoy the arts and develop creative leadership skills.”

Arts Award is managed by Trinity College London in association with Arts Council England.

Funded by Renaissance and managed by Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service, this project forms part of the Effective Museums programme for the East of England. We hope this will be the first group of many to achieve their Bronze Arts Award and that we may possibly offer Silver Arts Award in the future.

The Big Time Travel Draw Panorama

We were delighted when Chris Carroll sent in this amazing panorama of the Big Time Travel Draw mural on the Art Gallery & Museum hoardings. The hoardings will be up for another year so we're hoping there will be some more mural action in Spring.

Thank you Chris!

What's Going On?

We have a new leaflet out with all of the latest news about the redevelopment project and upcoming events.You can flick through the leaflet online here.

Open publication - Free publishing - More art. museum

If you would like to receive regular email updates from us please subscribe to our e-newsletter here.

The Big Time-Travel Draw!

October is Big Draw month! The Big Draw is the Campaign for Drawing’s flagship programme. It is the largest drawing festival in the world. This year there will be lots of ways for the people of Bedford to join in and get involved with The Big Draw.

At the Art Gallery & Museum we will be travelling back and forth through time for our Big Draw event, making some VERY big drawings on the hoardings surrounding the Art Gallery & Museum site. But we need lots of help from all of you! Drop in on the 25th, 26th and 27th October to draw scenes inspired by Bedford’s past.

Did you know that Bedford was once beneath a tropical sea? Or that during the Ice Age Mammoth's, Elephant's and Bison roamed around the town? Come and join us in making some giant drawings inspired by Bedford's past as well as imagining Bedford's future. Will Bedford be underwater once more?

Join us at any time on the 25th, 26th or 27th October between 10am - 12noon or 1pm - 3pm for some FREE Big Drawing fun.

There are lots more Big Draw activities going on in Bedford. Bedford Creative Arts have invited artist Jo Roberts to map the history of Bedford’s Midland Road throughout October. For The Big Draw she will be leading doodle walks with local residents and visitors who want to explore this part of Bedford in a new and informal way. Through walking and talking and looking and doodling participants will contribute to a new map of Midland Road. The Midland Road Doodle Walks will take place on the afternoons of 15th, 19th and 22nd October.

WeAreBedford have teamed up with a group of local illustrators who will be inviting people to draw ‘Monsters of Bedford’ in an empty shop at Castle Quay. Taking inspiration from the creatures that have existed in the area from prehistoric time to the present day you are invited to create your own monster drawings. The event is on Saturday 22nd October from 11am – 3pm and is a free drop-in.

The illustrators on hand throughout the day include Katy Dynes, Alasdair Bright, Rachel Lovatt, Marisa Straccia, Scarlett Tierney, Andrew Foster and David Litchfield. They are all available to demonstrate a wide range of drawing techniques from the use of pen and pencil to chalk and stitch. You can add your creations to the ‘Monster Map’ of Bedford which will be created on the walls of The Drawing Room at Castle Quay.
Cllr Doug McMurdo, portfolio holder for Leisure and Culture at Bedford Borough Council, said: “Throughout October, the nights will be drawing in – quite literally! This festival is bound to stir peoples’ creativity and will form superb social events too. There is so much that Bedford has to offer in terms of arts and culture and these events are further evidence of that.”


So, why not make a BIG impact this October, and join in!

Blogging about blogging...

Our collections all safely packed away

The summer is coming to an end, the kids are heading back to school shortly, and we're taking a moment to look back on a very busy few months.

Back in the spring we only had one blog, this one, but now we have several all representing the different areas of work that are going on in our new offices and across Bedford Borough. We also had a museum building to pack-up: thankfully that's all now completed and the museum and art gallery buildings are in the safe hands of the builders and the collections are safely in store.

The last post introduced our new Out and About blog, where the Learing and Access team will keep you up to date with all their activities with a number of groups around the borough, starting with some fab 1940s glamour as Wooton teenagers became film makers.

Another side of the Learning and Access is the popular Saturday Archaeology Workshop. A look through their blog will make you wish you between 8 and 16 so you could take part too!

The Redevelopment blog will record what is happening to our buildings and keep you up to date with plans for the new museum and gallery. We hope to be able to share more with you shortly.

The curatorial team have been posting regularly on the News from the Stores blog. 'Object of the Week' is a fixture on Tuesdays, and we also aim to share something each week from the research that is going into the new displays.

Popular posts have included:

'Object of the week: Reliquary pendant found at Ampthill

The Etiquette of Visiting

'If you ask a certain kind of question when you work in a museum, you can find yourself on an interesting journey'

A Saxon window urn with a mysterious purpose

You'll also find posts on Electioneering, a rare Saxon window urn, trade cards, Norwegian Viking style chairs, Bedford fire service, De Morgan Tiles, Mourning jewellery, and much more...

If you're interested in the history of Bedford town the curatorial and eduction teams have been working with other organisiations on the The High Street Project, where you kind find pictures and reminiscences of shops from the High Streets past, and Hidden Bedford, where you can find out about the origins of the towns street names and other hidden aspects of Bedford.

We hope you enjoy all the posts, whether you're a chance visitor or a regular follower. Please feel free to give us any feedback on anything you've read across the blogs, either by email at bedford.museum@bedford.gov.uk, on the blog comments sections, or by twitter on @chagandbm.

Out and About - A new blog from our Learning & Access Team

Hi everyone,

since the Art Gallery & Museum has been closed for redevelopment our Learning & Access team have been out and about, working in partnership with lots of different groups. You can keep up to date with all of their news over at Out & About. The first post involves some amazing 40's glamour courtesy of Sarah Dunn's Doo-Wop Dos.

Read all about it here



Building work starts

Its been a busy few days at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. Builders have moved in and begun work at the site. We're really excited that this dramatic phase of the redevelopment has begun. We'll be keeping you all up to date with all of the news about the redevelopment here on the main blog - with some more in depth news over at our new Redevelopment Blog.

The beginning of the building work represents a big step towards realising the vision for a new Art Gallery & Museum. Dave Hodgson, Mayor of Bedford said “With the work now under way, we look forward to its completion and to the reopening of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum for the whole community to enjoy.”

Work beginning at the site.

The building works are scheduled to last for 11 months, followed by 6 months’ refitting of the galleries.
Once the works have been finalised, the new galleries will display objects in the collection that have never before been on show, as well as returning some old favourites to pride of place. Among the new displays, nationally significant collections of work by the Victorian architect-designer William Burges and the 20th century designer-printmaker Edward Bawden will be housed in dedicated galleries. New exhibition space will also allow the hosting of touring exhibitions from national museums, as well as displays from the Art Gallery & Museum’s outstanding watercolour and print collections.



The Zodiac Settle by William Burges will be on display in the William Burges Gallery.

There will be lots more space to display the Edward Bawden Archive, including this illuminated manuscript 'A general guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Spring and Easter 1923'

This redevelopment has been made possible by £3.2 million funding from Bedford Borough Council, as well as a grant of £959,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £100,000 from the Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, £500,000 from the Wixamtree Trust, £500,000 from The Bedford Charity, £350,000 from the Monument Trust, and £200,000 from Charles Wells Ltd, in addition to funding from a number of other sources.


Inauguration Day

On this day, 11th July, 1888, some of Bedford's most iconic features were unveiled to the town. The Suspension Bridge, Bedford Park and Mill Meadows (or Duck Mill recreation ground) were all opened, and the foundation stones for the Fire Station were laid. The town's Mayor, Joshua Hawkins, accompanied the Marquess of Tavistock, along with Samuel Whitbread who laid one of the two foundation stones for the fire station, still visible on Mill Street, on what came to be known as Inauguration Day.


The suspension bridge was designed by John J. Webster and had been paid for by public subscriptions. The river had for centuries been a vital commercial highway with much of the goods coming in and out of the town that way. With the arrival of the railways the river could instead be a focus for leisure and recreation. The embankment was extended, Mill Meadows created as a public park, and the old slum cottages of Waterloo - opposite where the Embankment Hotel now stands - cleared and replaced by the Embankment Gardens.  Russell Park followed 10 years later when the 11th Duke of Bedford gave the land as a park to the people of Bedford.

Slum cottages, Waterloo - now the far more presentable Embankment Gardens.



The hand-made iron gates by Messrs Bacchus and Ison, and their names engraved on the plaque on the entrance to Bedford park



Former Fire Station, Mill Street

Gothic details by John
Usher above a High
Street fast food outlet

 Bedford Park, along with De Parys Avenue, was laid out on land that had been owned by St. John's Hospital, which still stands on St. John's Street. The park was proposed in 1879 and made a public space by an act of Parliament in 1881, ensuring the demolition of Bury Farm and a large house last occupied by a French noble, the Vicomte de Visme. The Bedford Park gates,which record the opening and complete the fine vista down De Parys, were hand made by Bacchus and Ison, their name visible at the bottom of the two plaques on the gate posts. The Duke of Bedford had given the gates to the Park and also had given the volunteer fire service a new steam fire-engine in 1887, and a new building to house it was commissioned. The fire station features the only public commemoration of Usher and Anthony Architects of which the principal architect John Usher designed such familiar Bedford buildings Holly Lodge, The Grove; Alexandra Cottages, Grove Place; Blunham Rectory; and Clapham Park. The striking gothic styled building on the High Street with coloured brick work, ogee windows and gun-dogs either side of a decorated gable is another Usher design, originally for H.Adkin, the gunsmith, now a Subway.

 

Your Paintings

A fantastic new resource has just been launched on the BBC’s website called Your Paintings that aspires to give access to every single oil painting in public collections. Its' certainly made a great start with more than 63000 records online so far!

The project came from the Public Catalogue Foundation, who have been going round county by county recording all the paintings in the institutions in each area in order to produce a book on those collections. They came to Bedfordshire thankfully before we had packed away all our collections and the glossy volume Oil Paintings in Public Ownership – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire came out earlier this year.

As well as all of the oil paintings in Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, the county is represented by paintings from Bedford Borough Council, the John Bunyan Museum, Moot Hall, Wrest Park, and the University of Bedfordshire, as well as many others.

The Your Paintings website lets you browse through the paintings, search by Gallery or Collection, or search by artist - where each painter is beautifully represented by a painted portrait. Clicking on an artist can lead you on to a wealth of information that includes not only the usual biography and selection of works but also slideshows and links to BBC content on the iPlayer such as the programmes The Culture Show and Making Masterpieces.

An area we particularly like (and can't wait to explore fully!) is the Tagger feature. This allows users of the site to tag content in the pictures so that the subjects or details in the pictures can be searched on. This could be a simple as the keywords 'portrait' or 'landscape' or could get far more specific pointing out details like 'bonnet' or 'oak tree', or art historical genres such as 'Impressionism' or 'Vorticism'.

The possibilties are endless! The site gives you the opportunity to bring together pictures from all over the country in your personally constructed themes. And soon users will be able to create their very own guided tours too. Curators, Education departments, art enthusiasts and visitors alike will find this a valuable tool. Most importantly it should help to give the public a sense of ownership of their national and local collections, and get out and visit their museums and galleries. KP